Moving to the Country
Kate Gregory
checked the date -- so much activity since then!) I posted
this question, about moving to the country:
What do you wish you'd asked about or investigated before you
bought? What did you get burned or just plain lucky on?
17 people sent me suggestions. This summary is almost a thousand
lines total, with only about 100 lines from me. Here's a quick
list of everything that was mentioned by more than two people:
Well/Drinking water (13)
Zoning bylaws, future development plans (5)
Neighbours (7)
Septic (6)
House inspection (foundation, plumbing etc) (4)
Schools and school buses (3)
Basement Flooding (3)
Easements (3)
Inspect at various times of day/year (3)
You can see the big concern is water. One piece of new information
that I have gained is to TASTE IT OURSELVES before an offer. Here's
some of what people had to say about water and wells:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Water: How deep is the well, good does it taste, is the septic the
kind that needs pumping every couple of years, where is the septic, where
is the well. (Believe it or not, my mother couldn't find the well in her
house. We finally figured out it was a sandtrap under the house.)
Is there a sulphur smell or taste to the water (you will go to hate the
place if it's strong) Do you run out of water in the summer, do the pipes
freeze in the winter?
--Paul Tomblin
Make sure your water source is reliable. If it's well water, find out
if they've ever had problems with the well. If it's piped water, from a
rural company, find out from neighbors if the water is reliable.
--Darrin Chaney
Water. Taste the water that comes from the well and the tap. If there
is any kind of filter installed, find out EXACTLY how it works. We
got a water softener win the house. Little did we realize that it
works by adding sodium to water in order to replace metal ions.
Too much salt (sodium) has been traced as a couse of high blood
preasure and other problems. Both of us maintain low sodium diet.
Now we have to buy bottled water to drink and to use in cooking.
(On the other hand - a reverse osmosis filter is a big asset!)
-- Alex Beylin
THE WATER. we had been warned that it was bad, and tasted it
during our inspection, but we still weren't prepared. We have 2
wells on our property that are part of a 77 home water company. The
water has a lot of sulphur and other smelly things disolved in it and
is both unpalatable and stinky while showering. Recently the smell is
almost gone. That may mean that the aeration the water co. has been doing
is working, or that we are using less stinky wells, or that we are using
trucked in water ;-( (this IS california, and we don't have a real water table
in the mtns) the water is SAFE, just unpalatable and VERY hard. we buy bottled
water at .43/gal for drinking and cooking. works out to < $3/week.
--Katy Kislitzin
Get the water tested...we didn't have a problem, but I've discovered
that rural wells get contaminated with pesticides from farms and
gasoline from old farm and gas station tanks leaking.
-- Kathy Santos
Everyone asks for a water test, but they always come back okay!
My mother in law was a broker; she says they just keep adding chlorine
to the well until the test is good, or just cheat. Therefore, you
may want to do your own test. And remember the usual tests just
check for E. coli; make sure you like the water! Ours is very hard
but good tasting; we have an iron remover and a water softner
to make the laundry easier.
-- Chris Retterath
Is the well cased? Is it grouted? How does the well test during
various conditions like spring run off time and fall rains?
What sort of water pressure will the house have if you flush the toilet
and take a shower at the same time?
Do you have/need an iron filter or softwater system?
--James White
Water: have it tested, if it's not required. look for discolored sinks,
tubs, dishwashers for hints of water makeup. Avoid galvanized plumbing.
Check any faucets that don't get used much for flow...minerals will build
up in standing water and restrict flow in the pipes. Taste the water after it's
been sitting in the pipes overnight. If community water,
be sure there is a written agreement on usage/maintenance. If a private
well, be sure water rights have not been assigned to a third party.
-- Steve Haynes
How good is the well? Particularly, you want to watch out for
summer water flows if you have a big garden and are going to irrigate
a lot. Also, it needs to be well-protected from winter freezes
(nothing worse than no toilet/shower, etc. in a freezing blizzard).
-- Mike Northam
We're on a community well (about 30 houses) in a somewhat remote area of nice homes.
The realtor said, "don't bother with a water check". Well, we found that we have
hard water and it stains everything ... and we need to buy a water softener.
-- Bruce Johnson
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No other feature got this much attention. Most people mentioned the septic
while discussing the general well situation. "Neighbours" is a fuzzy
category: are they nice, are there working farms nearby, what condition
are the fences in, does the local village have a strong sense of community,
will you be "the new people" for ten years, that sort of thing.
Here's my advice to anyone thinking of making the move:
Buy a copy of "Life After the City", a Harrowsmith book by Charles Long.
It covers some of this stuff but it's more about lifestyles and deciding
if you want to go or not and if so how far.
Buy a topographic map (from the government) of the area you're thinking
of. Start with 1:250,000 or 1:200,000. That will show every road, stream,
railway line, big power line, underground pipelines, etc. When you start
thinking seriously about a particular house, buy a 1:50,000 that covers
it. These maps show individual houses. You can spot farms in the area
because the silos and barns are shown. So are cemeteries, junk yards,
abandoned airfields, fairgrounds, arenas, churches, schools, all labelled.
It shows wooded areas, open areas, gravel pits and other physical features.
If you know how to read contours you can actually get directions to a place
over the phone and then say (from the map) "it's on a hill, near the
top, there's a stream through the back, a church across the street,
it gets swampy down by the stream, the land is about half cleared half
bush..." without driving for an hour and a half to look at it.
Check the DATE of the photos the map is from: our 1:250K was taken in 1963
and has ghost towns on it, plus some new roads have been built. Our
1:50K was taken in 1981 -- much better. Lets you guess the age of some
houses, too. Get a phone book from the nearest place that's big enough
to have a phone book, and you'll know before you move whether there's
a bike store (or whatever) in the area.
Make two lists, called "wishes" and "check". Put all the great stuff
on wishes, like "gorgeous view" "5 bedrooms" "deck" "stream or pond".
Put all the not so great stuff on check, like "water" "septic" and
the other stuff mentioned here. Also list everything you might
ever want to go to or have come to you: fire dept, hospital,
grocery store, convenience store, pizza, gas station, car fixing place,
your family members, movie house, restaurants, clothing and birthday
present type stores, bus station, train station, downtown of the biggest
nearby city, doctor, dentist, library, schools (the kids may miss the
bus), arena, church etc etc and write down the time to all of those.
Then when you consider a place, tick off good stuff on your wish list,
fill in the times on the time list, and before you offer, get through
that check list. The house we're thinking of has about 80% of our
wish list ticked, and we're trying to figure out how to fix some
of the negatives (like only one upstairs bedroom). It's a great way
to compare properties.
For fun, you might try filling out that "time to" list for your
city place. The top house on our country list now is a three minute
drive (at 50 mph) from a milk store. Our city house is over 5 minutes
from the milk store (at 25 mph, of course). We're 25 minutes from the
hospital in the city; 19 if we get that particular country house.
It's a lot further on the map but no further in time. And that house
sits on 15 acres and backs onto waterfront.
An acre is (approx) 200 ft by 200 ft.
Make offers conditional on inspection (by a home inspector, not you).
I will NEVER buy another house anywhere without one. Hire a home
inspector who will do the well and septic too, and get the water
tested. If there is a softener, is there a separate tap for cold
hard water to drink? (And make tea; soft water makes foul tea.)
Taste the water. Run the hot tap till it's really hot and then
smell it. Get the chimney checked.
Make at least two visits, at different times of day (eg high noon
and dusk). Walk the property lines. If there is waterfront, go
out on the water in a canoe or rowboat and look at the place from
the water. Try to walk through any bush and see if you can have those
romantic woodland strolls or not. Is it hard or softwood (everyone
has a fireplace or woodstove, it seems) and can you get any wood out
of it?
Make sure you can get a private phone line. If you have dreams of
freelance programming or writing or staying in touch via nets, can
you get a second private line? Where can you call for free and is
there a Datapac node or Compuserve access port there?
If you end up needing to find a new job in a few years, will that
be possible? Is there anything going on there other than what you
now think will support you? Can you get daycare?
Outbuildings and equipment. Is there a huge lawn that you imagine your
toddler playing on? How is it mowed? Does the huge lawn tractor come
with the place? How does the driveway get cleared? What about that
wildflower meadow in the back -- if there are no trees then it probably
gets mowed once a year. With what? (Not a lawnmower.)
Is there an ATV you can use to bring firewood in from the bush? If none
of the equipment is staying, what will it cost you to buy new? And
where will you keep it all? You'll need the equivalent of a single car
garage just for equipment even if you're not running a farm.
Safety issues. Huge old rickety barns look nice, but whether they're
on my property or across the street I don't want my two year old in
them. A huge unfenced front yard looks great, but the cars on that
road are going 50 mph; a big change from my little cul de sac in the
city. Waterfront is marvellous but that same toddler has to be watched
all the time in the back yard to avoid unscheduled swims, or else there
are fences to be built. Same with the bush: do you really want a little
one to able to slip into it easily or would it be better if it
was all fenced with an opening near the house?
Future renovations. Another outbuilding, a new wing on the house,
a pool or even just another woodstove, whatever the place needs to
become your dream home, there are the usual worries about zoning
and permits and whatnot (some ruralities do care) but in addition,
you don't want to move the well or the septic. Make sure you know
where they are when you're dreaming. And there's a reason why so
few north-facing walls have windows in them. And who's going to buy
that 7 bedroom split level someday?
Add to that everything these kind people said; I saw no need
to duplicate it. I'm reduced the headers a bit and taken out
any quoting of my original message but other than
that these are the messages as I saved them, so you'll see the
water stuff twice. Notice most people made it point #1.
Thanks to everyone who wrote. I'm still looking, so anyone who has
anything to add, please do. If I get more mail I'll summarize again.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: SBI...@DESIRE.WRIGHT.EDU
Some things you really need to check out before buying a house....
How far to nearest fire station? (Insurance rates in our area are dependent on
this)
How far to nearest hospital? (If you are suddenly ill, you don't want to drive
a million miles to help.)
How far to groceries, shopping, town?
Where is local school? How good is it? (If you have kids, how long will they
be on the bus? Two hours each way isn't much fun, especially if you have to go
to school to pickup a sick kid.)
What kind of condition is septic system in? Have it checked by a professional.
Dont take the sellers' word. Ditto for the well. Have the water checked by
the health department.
Have a professional check condition of house foundation and check for termites.
Does anyone have a legal easement over your property?
Will you own mineral rights? Water rights? Timber rights?
What do the neighbors do? (You don;t want to live next to the local wrecker's
yard, dope dealer, producer of noxious odors.)
Visit the neighbors. Are they friendly? Courteous? (If they hide when they
see you coming, meet you at the door with a shotgun, have an huge and vicious
dog running loose, then you may want to rethink the whole deal.) My sister
and her husband lived in a house for a while. The neighbors' teenagers broke
into the house several times, stole lots of stuff, my sister got lots of phone
calls from someone who knew her by name, saying she looked so cute in her
shorts and wasn't she lonely with her husband gone so much....(they moved!)
Check out the climate. Does the only nice place to sit outside also face
west so you are baked in the hot afternoon sun? Friends of my son have a
lovely house. The deck is on the back of the house, it's unbareable to sit
there in the evenings since it faces west.
Does the house have a good natural windbreak if it is in a windy location?
That's all I cna think of for now...
Good luck house hunting...
Sue
From: p...@geovision.gvc.com (Paul Tomblin)
I cant vouch for this, because I actually rented my place for two years
before buying it. But a few things to think about:
1) Water: How deep is the well, good does it taste, is the septic the
kind that needs pumping every couple of years, where is the septic, where
is the well. (Believe it or not, my mother couldn't find the well in her
house. We finally figured out it was a sandtrap under the house.)
Is there a sulphur smell or taste to the water (you will go to hate the
place if it's strong) Do you run out of water in the summer, do the pipes
freeze in the winter?
2) Heat: How is it heated, where do you get the wood, gas, oil, whatever to
replenish it, how much does it cost to heat a year, is it drafty?
3) Garbage: When is it removed, will they take everything, (some won't take
big items, which can be a pain when renovating), where's the dump, does the
dump charge for stuff, is there a local recycling program, curbside or drop
off.
4) Other expenses: Does your tax bill include garbage removal and snow
removal, what are school and municpal taxes?
5) Snow: Are you on a school bus route (best snow removal if you are),
is there somebody around who will do your driveway, how much do they
charge?
6) Community: Is there a local organization that puts on dances and stuff.
It can be a real load of fun if there is, and it's the best way to become
part of the community, rather than just "Those new folks". Keep in mind
you will probably be "Those new folks" for the first 10 years.
7) Schools: Where do the bus routes go, do they pick up at your door or do
you have to go a ways, are the local schools K4 to grade 12 or are they
split up. (I sure as hell don't want my 4 year old daughter in a school
with 18 year old drug addicts. Wait until she's older and stronger) Here
in Quebec, you have to look into the language of schools and stuff too, so
it gets more complicated.
That's all I can think of now. Hope it goes well for you.
(BTW, at community association meeting, learn to bite your tounge and
not be too outspoken, or they'll start having meetings without telling
you, as I recently found out)
--
Paul Tomblin, p...@geovision.gvc.com (I speak for me, and only me)
From: M Darrin Chaney <mdch...@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu>
Make sure your water source is reliable. If it's well water, find out
if they've ever had problems with the well. If it's piped water, from a
rural company, find out from neighbors if the water is reliable.
And, of course, make sure that your road isn't destined to be tomorrow's
super-highway.
Darrin
From: al...@cfctech.cfc.com (Alex Beylin)
We just (4 weeks) moved into the new house on 10 acres. Used to live
in the suburbs. Good luck - it is a wonderfull change.
Things I wish I'd researched further:
1. Water. Taste the water that comes from the well and the tap. If there
is any kind of filter installed, find out EXACTLY how it works. We
got a water softener win the house. Little did we realize that it
works by adding sodium to water in order to replace metal ions.
Too much salt (sodium) has been traced as a couse of high blood
preasure and other problems. Both of us maintain low sodium diet.
Now we have to buy bottled water to drink and to use in cooking.
(On the other hand - a reverse osmosis filter is a big asset!)
2. Generator. Some houses are pre-wired for a generator. It is a
big plus. Remember, when you have no power in the country, you
have no water and (maybe) no heat. The best type if wiring is
if a 50 amp plug is provided to be connected to the generator.
(it is a big round plug with three semi-circular connectors).
If prior owners have a generator, find out how many watt it is
rated at (peak and sustained).
3. Near-by water. The closer you are to standing water, the more
bugs you are likely to have.
4. Zoning laws - be carefull. Go to the county and township office
and read all there is! This is the area most people get burnt on.
Don't trust the realtor to assure you that all is ok with zoning for
what you'd like to do.
5. Make sure and have septic field and well inspected. Most inspectors
will not do that - you need special people.
6. Ask owneres for copies of their recipts for the last 2 years or so.
Helps a lot in finding places to call with problems. Ask them
who they use for garbadge disposal, sewage, propane, etc.
(This is after you close, but warn them to keep that stuff as they pack).
Hope this helps.
-- Alex
From: Maria Brown Prescott <ma...@sequent.com>
If you plan to move near any working farms, be sure you understand
what that involves. Farms can create a lot of noise, dust, odor,
smoke, etc. And some use quite a few nasty chemicals. Many farms
are driven out of business because "city folk" move to the "country"
and then complain about the dust, noise, chemicals, etc.
Maria
From: msw104i!marg...@uunet.UU.NET
My husband and I are closing on a house in the country
tomorrow afternoon. (Not a farm; just a house on a 1-acre
lot.) So far, everything is fine -- of course, we haven't
yet spent a night in the house!
Here are some of the things we did while making the decision
to buy this house:
- We hired a home inspector to do a thorough evaluation of the
house. He checked the plumbing, wiring, roof, everything.
(We would have done this with any house, city or country.)
- We confirmed that the roads around the house were county roads.
That is, the county government is responsible for their upkeep.
- We talked to the neighbors to try and learn a little about the
area.
- We've been reading up on septic systems. (Lots of country houses,
ours included, have them.)
- We checked to see if the local government had any future plans
to build landfills, prisons, or the like in the area. (They
always put stuff like that out in the country.)
The most important thing we've learned so far is DON'T TRUST your
realtor or your loan originator. Maybe we were just unlucky, but
these people misinformed us time after time. For reliable information,
we went to other sources.
This isn't much, but I hope it helps. If you want to, check back
with me in a few weeks and I'll give you an update of "life in the
country."
Margaret Wiginton
From: k...@nas.nasa.gov (Katy T. Kislitzin)
i wouldn't say we really "got burned" on anything, but we did have
a few surprises after we moved in:
1. THE WATER. we had been warned that it was bad, and tasted it
during our inspection, but we still weren't prepared. We have 2
wells on our property that are part of a 77 home water company. The
water has a lot of sulphur and other smelly things disolved in it and
is both unpalatable and stinky while showering. Recently the smell is
almost gone. That may mean that the aeration the water co. has been doing
is working, or that we are using less stinky wells, or that we are using
trucked in water ;-( (this IS california, and we don't have a real water table
in the mtns) the water is SAFE, just unpalatable and VERY hard. we buy bottled
water at .43/gal for drinking and cooking. works out to < $3/week.
2. our solar water system didn't work, although it was supposed to. it took my
S.O. many hours of debugging. we also found that since we have a gravity fed system
and there is a > 200 ft drop from the storage tank to us, our water line pressure
was ~150 psi. that is very high. also, we are getting a lot of buildup in our lines
from the
3. we had a few leaks, but the roof was under warranty and the roofer fixed them.
there was a reasonable amount of rain last spring, but we have yet to
experience a "real" non-drought winter storm.
4. not a "gotcha", but our power goes out at the drop of a hat. we can do
without electricity for quite a while and the outages are usually short, but
there are still a lot of computerized gadgets that lose their state when the
power fails. we rigged a deadman switch on the power strip for the Sun. The
most annoying gadget that has to be reset is the heat pump. it will blast on
full force at 2 am if the power suddenly comes on.
btw, we have a HOUSE, on ~4 acres about 40 min from work. we are getting
animals and grow some veggies, but our livelihood is still from our "city"
employment.
if you have any other questions, let me know
--kt
From: Dean Davidson <ddav...@gara.une.oz.au>
Kate,
I'm doing a course at the local TAFE (don't know what the Canadian
equvalent would be - but lets call it "night school") on Small Farm Management
On of our lectures was on buying a farm. The following is a precis.
Hope it may be of some use/relevance to your situation. I moved out of
the big smoke about 8 months ago - never going back. I'm on about
250 acres which came complete with house, sheds, yards etc Got 52 head
of cattle on it at the moment - our babies (11 7 month old Angus) plus
another 40 odd on agistment (helps pay the bills). The important thing
I think is to get a job in your new are first. If Canada is like Oz at
the moment employment prospects are not too good in the country.
I used to work at Macquarie Uni in Sydney, so moving to a country uni was
a logical step. But there isn't may unis outside big cities! Anyway:
1. What you want out of a farm
Leisure
Peace & Quiet
Hobby/Interests
Money
2. For Agriculture
Soil types
Fertility
Texture
Depth
Accessibility durin wet weather
Drainage
Stoniness
Capacity to hold water for dams
Water
Quantity
Quality
Accesibility
Type Underground vs dams
Depth of bores
Types of pumps
Reliability
permanent creeks, dams dry out, bores pump dry
Previous usage
Cropping history
Fertiliser use
Chemical use (particularly organo-phosphates!)
Stocking levels
Other Improvements
Sheds
Fences (type and condition)
Yards
Soil conservation work
Proximity to power
House condition
Soil Erosion Problems
Can usually be rectified, but expensive
Weed type and amount
Pasture species present & their growth
Timber - type & quantity
Topography - Aspect
In New England District of NSW, easterly slope the best
as prevailing winds from West
Rainfall
Rain shadows
Flooding
Hail belts - Hail insurance
Other
Proximity to town/jobs
School busses
Telephone
Electricity
Mail service
Road type to property
Well, hope these may be of some help. Our lecturer streesed the importance
of finding out answers to these questions you self
In order of believability of sources:
Real Estate Agent (Never trust them! :-) )
Owner
Neighbours (may want the place thermselves,
thus turn away other buyers)
Government agencies, councils, etc.
Best of luck and may your move be as successful as ours was.
Cheers,
Dean
From: olympia!mar...@geovision.gvc.com (Martin Taylor (C))
We bought our place just over a year ago. At that time it was 14
acres of vacant field and bush. Since then we've built a house, put
in a garden and pond and are thouroughly enjoying ourselves. I wish
I had known more about the surface water movements on the land but
they haven't been too much of a problem. The house is on bedrock
with an excellent "big O" drain around it. The pond is at the low
end of the lot and we hope it catches a lot of the run-off and fills
up next fall and/or spring. Right now it is a dry hole about the
size of a hockey rink, since we haven't had much rain since June.
What sort of a place are you looking for? There's lots of land and
country houses for sale here in eastern Ontario.
I would strongly recommend our approach of designing your own house.
If you're going to take the trouble to move to the country you might
as well get something that is exactly suited to you, rather than someone
else's reject. If you're not able to build it yourself (carpenters
we are not!) then I would also suggest you follow our example and
look into factory built houses. I can comment on this and other "Moving
to the Country" topics at greater length if you're interested.
Good Luck!
--
From: ksa...@bubba.ma30.bull.com (Kathy Santos)
Get the water tested...we didn't have a problem, but I've discovered
that rural wells get contaminated with pesticides from farms and
gasoline from old farm and gas station tanks leaking.
From: mks!ch...@watmath.waterloo.edu (Chris Retterath)
My lawyer, whom I talked to *before* I made any offers, advised us
to ask for a letter of acceptability on the septic from the Dept of Health as
a condition on our offer.
It turned out the septic was substandard (the sellers knew this), and
they installed a new septic+tile field before we moved in. If we
hadn't asked, we would have been stuck with their old system.
Other things to look for:
- everyone asks for a water test, but they always come back okay!
My mother in law was a broker; she says they just keep adding chlorine
to the well until the test is good, or just cheat. Therefore, you
may want to do your own test. And remember the usual tests just
check for E. coli; make sure you like the water! Ours is very hard
but good tasting; we have an iron remover and a water softner
to make the laundry easier.
- brokers never seem to "remember" to give you inspections
before closing. We asked for and got 3 inspections, which was good
because we got to know the sellers a bit, and they gave us lots of
good info about the house, its history, et cetera.
- lots of older farm houses were insulated with UFFI
(urea formaldehyde foam insulation) in the '70s. Banks hate these
houses but they can be a good buy if you have some mortgage
flexability. We have UFFI in one part of our house and had to
get an air test to get a mortgage.
- banks hate anything unusual. If you have a few acres,
then they may hit you with a hobby farm rate (higher cost).
If you have a lot of land, they may not give you the mortgage at all,
or require that you not farm it(!) And if you only have a few acres,
then you should check to see what you're allowed to do on it.
Around here you need at least 3 acres to have a horse, chickens, et cetera.
- don't let anyone talk you into paying for a survey.
Always ask for an existing survey. If there isn't one, then ask
for one as a condition of sale, if your bank requires one.
If the property is large, these can cost a lot of $$. And don't
believe the "bank policy" stuff: the rural branches of some large
banks are *much* more flexible. Again, check out your financing
alternatives before you make an offer.
- don't forget all the usual house things as per the city:
good roof, dry basement, property setbacks, inspection of timbers,
and the attic, roof and chimney condition. Get an inspector or at least
an appraisal.
Check the furnace, water heater, etc for age, recent service,
and check to see if they are rented. One tip: if the furnace is
hung from the bottom of the first floor joists, then the basement
probably has a history of flooding.
- plus some special to rural living: good, deep, well that
has water you can drink. Easy access to the road, and not too long
a driveway if you are commuting in the winter. Lightening rods,
properly installed, should be present and in good condition.
(you won't believe the storms out in the country, without any other
buildings around to block the wind).
- check your fences. You are supposed to help keep them in
repair (you and your neighbour share the costs). If you are planning
new fences, then see what you can get your neighbour to cough up.
Talk to the township clerk about this first.
- check for noise/recreational disturbances, et cetera.
Is the town dump within 1 mile? Lots of townships still burn them off!
We have a lot of hunters (for a planned pheasant release in
the conservation authority land around our farm),
but have had no problems with them; some people, though, especially
city folks, have a real problem with hunting and try to deny
hunters access to their land, et cetera.
Other farmers can be much more annoying; they work long hard hours
in the spring and summer, operating large noisy diesel tractors,
or spreading manure. Since we farm as well, we're part of the problem(!)
but don't buy a house 10 feet from a field which is being worked!
Remember that a hay field can look 'unused' most of the time, but
sooner or later it'll get ripped up for corn or grain.
Then you'll get herbicides, possibly pesticides, noise, and manure.
Best thing is to keep far enough away! (I have a new neighbour building
a house 15 feet from my furthest hay field: basically a bad move!)
- finally, if you're going to be in commuting distance from
a city, check to see what is happening in the area. You may end up
with a large subdivision or urban expansion within the next 5 years.
Chris R
From: James White <ja...@rchland.vnet.ibm.com>
Kate,
I have been living in the country for about 6 years now. I have about 5
acres that can truly be considered country (and not just citified
country.)
Things I wish I had pad more attention to are.
Quality (and quantity) of the top soil. Is it clay, sand, or some nice
rich loam. What's under that lawn? Will it hold up to hot weather?
Look out for lawns planted on clay.
Does the yard have enough level places so that you could play games and
have picnics. Can you set up a volleyball net or horseshoe pits.
Is there a problem with erosion. Will animals such as sheep and horses
immediately cause an erosion problem.
Are there any hidden wells that will (by state/county regulation) cause
you to spend money to cement shut. Look for old wind mills.
Are you down stream from people who like to use large amounts of
chemicals on trees or lawns. (This is one of my problems) This will
cause ponds or streams to be overly green with algae and may prevent you
from watering animals from open ponds.
Basic questions I did pay attention to.
Is the well cased? Is it grouted? How does the well test during
various conditions like spring run off time and fall rains.?
What sort of water pressure will the house have if you flush the toilet
and take a shower at the same time?
Do you have/need an iron filter or softwater system?
Does the basement get water in it when the water table fluctuates?
I wish you well living in the country. I would never trade the peace
and quiet for city living convenience.
Cheers! James. (Write back and let me know how you do)
From: Diane Morris <di...@mothra.rose.hp.com>
My husband and I bought a house in a rural kind of suburb, called 'Todd
Valley' in a little town called Foresthill in the Sierra Nevada Foothills.
It was new when we bought it and I sure wish I had told the builder to
clear out all the bulldozed debris (trees, branches, bushes, you name it)
that was torn down to build the house and left at the bottom of a hill
behind our house (in plain view from any rear window). We have now been
working on cleaning it up with axes, chainsaw, bonfires for two years. Also
about 4 months after we moved in 10 one hundred foot pine trees died around
the house due to the stress of the house going in (along with the drought).
It cost us $1100 to get them cut down. I wish I had asked for some kind of
reasonable agreement that no major part of the 'landscaping' around the house
would just up and die. I think something could have been worked out.
A home warranty on a non new house would also make sense. Also it costs a lot
to have things delivered this far from anything. If you need appliances or
anything like that, and there is no dept store in this rural town you'll be
living in, buy it before you move and have it moved with you. We moved from
San Jose and we purchased our washer and dryer and refrigerator before we
moved and the movers move it with us. We would have had some time getting
any store to deliver out to Foresthill.
Good luck!
Diane Morris
From: ste...@tc.fluke.COM (Steve Haynes)
This is kind of a wide open question, and I could go on and on about it,
but I think the pertinent question is "is there anything you found out
later that would have changed your decision to buy?". We've been in our
house for almost 5 years now, and while we've discovered a lot of problems,
there is nothing I know now that would have made me change my mind about
the decision to buy. Of course, problems will weigh differently among
buyers...are electrical and plumbing problems enough to avoid a place that
otherwise has everything you wanted? Or would it take major structural/
foundation problems? Here is a brief list of the problems we've had, or
things I would be on the look out for:
- foundation: problems with the foundation can be the most expensive of
any structural problems. Avoid post-and-beam; watch out for drainage
problems and/or water in the crawl space; check for uniform concrete
(no rocks showing, no cement flaking off);
- dryrot: take an ice pick under the house and jam it into floor joists,
posts, sills, anyplace else. Look for discolored siding (natural wood siding)
or flaking paint (painted siding)...these are indications of dryrot.
- water: have it tested, if it's not required. look for discolored sinks,
tubs, dishwashers for hints of water makeup. Avoid galvanized plumbing.
Check any faucets that don't get used much for flow...minerals will build
up in standing water and restrict flow in the pipes. Taste the water after it's
been sitting in the pipes overnight. If community water,
be sure there is a written agreement on usage/maintenance. If a private
well, be sure water rights have not been assigned to a third party.
- property lines. This is where we got our big shock. The neighbor behind
us happened to be the listing agent, and the people selling the house were
not about to mention it...but we bought 6.5 acres, and the house is 17'
from the property line! Of course the seller showed me "the line", but he
either didn't know where it was or was deliberate about concealing the true
location. The week after we moved in, these jerks hired a cat that literally
came through our back yard, and then they put up a barb wire fence and put
horses in there.
- easements...if access is via an easement, check the agreement...be sure
maintenance costs and usage are clearly spelled out. If an easement crosses
the property, be sure to find out who has easement rights. I've heard horror
stories of people getting a driveway put in right thru their yards, just
a few feet from their house.
- the neighborhood. Nothing will affect current and future property values
like the neighborhood. Are there a lot of mobile homes? Are their large
undeveloped lots with questionable zoning? Do your neighbors judge their
wealth by the number of dead cars parked in the driveway? Do they have
pit bulls/toilets? Be sure to check the zoning out with the county,
or you may get a landfill or a 24 hr/day gravel pit as a neighbor, and
your property value will go to zero.
Well, this is probably enough info to get you started. Good luck.
From: celit!fpssun.fps.com!mbn.fps.COM!m...@UCSD.EDU (Mike Northam ext 2651)
Maybe things are different in your neck of the woods, but here are
some things that (after 6 years in the country) have turned out to be
important to us:
1. How good is the well? Particularly, you want to watch out for
summer water flows if you have a big garden and are going to irrigate
a lot. Also, it needs to be well-protected from winter freezes
(nothing worse than no toilet/shower, etc. in a freezing blizzard).
2. Good south exposure for a satellite dish (important to me, at any
rate). You could perhaps justify this as saying you didn't want too
much shade because you're going to put in a garden :-).
3. Watch out for easements across the property. It's OK for the
power company to have an easement to your house, and maybe you share a
driveway with a neighbor, or something. What you want to watch out
for is something going across your property. Maybe there's an
innocent power line across your land serving some neighbors up the
hill. If that area turns into a big subdivision, the power co. will
want to put through a giant power line with big towers, or something.
Same with an innocent driveway easement. What if a construction
contractor moves in next door and decides to widen the road on his
easement to 20 feet and run big trucks back and forth across it all
day?
Our easement situation was so screwed up that we ended up spending
countless hours in the county courthouse researching the various
deeds, easements, etc., and then spending thousands of dollars in
attorney fees defending our rights! (And this was after we tried to
be careful about easements before we even bought the property.)
4. If you have a stream (or even a well in some areas) and are
planning to do any irrigation, make sure you have water rights. This
may not be a big deal in your area, but here in the West, water rights
can be sold separately from the land, which can lead to a mess. Also,
if you don't have water rights and you end up wanting to sell your
nice 5 acre country estate in the future, it may prove more difficult.
Just because you don't need to irrigate, doesn't mean that a
prospective buyer ten years from now will feel the same way.
5. Adequate septic system. Also watch out for low-lieing land in
your drain field. If this is prone to flooding, you won't be happy
with the smell :-). If the drain field isn't adequate, you'll find
yourself pumping out the septic tank every year. You might inquire
how much it costs in your area and how often it has to be done.
6. Be aware of "out of season" considerations. There's an area near
us with a county road on one side of a small valley and all the houses
on the other side of the valley. A little, teeny, tiny creek flows
down the middle. Guess what happens _every_ spring? The little,
teeny, tiny creek turns into a one-half mile wide lake for about two
months. These folks (who probably all bought their houses in the
summertime) have to wade home every night, carrying their groceries in
the rain!
I've already mentioned the well in summertime. How about getting
snowed in in wintertime? Flooding? etc.
Good luck in your search! Don't let all these negative thoughts deter
you. Living in the country is well worth it, and none of these things
will affect you, right?
Regards, Mike--
From: bru...@apd.MENTORG.COM (Bruce Johnson)
We're on a community well (about 30 houses) in a somewhat remote area of nice homes.
The realtor said, "don't bother with a water check". Well, we found that we have
hard water and it stains everything ... and we need to buy a water softener.
We did have the septic tank pumped and checked though.
Bruce
From: Alan.C...@prg.oxford.ac.uk
Hi Kate
I have purchased two largish houses in the countryside here in Oxford
England. The first was a disaster, the second after this experiance
was much better. The things to look for are as follows:
1 View said property in the heat of the day to see if flies etc are
around the house.
2 Take a second look in the dusk for same reason.
3 Take note of any aircraft flight paths etc.
4 Try and find out if there are any noisy country sports going on
in your area for example shooting parties, hunts etc.
5 Some farmer neighbours do not like townies buying property in "there"
countryside and will not welcome you to the community.
6 Check the house for general pest residence (we had woodlice in three
floors)
7 And finally does the current owners have any pets if so what. You can
get a good idea how the house has been kept by the no. of pets eg:
7 dogs 4 cats and 1 pig.
Have a good time
Alan Crowder